Nyokum Yullo Festival

• Context (IE): The Nyokum Yullo festival is celebrated by the Nyishi community in Arunachal Pradesh.

About Nyokum Yullo Festival

• Meaning: The Word Nyokum has been derived from the combination of two words – Nyok means land (earth) and Kum means collectiveness or togetherness.

Rituals

• Worship: No idols, and the main prayer structure is yugang, which is made of bamboo, with sacrificial animals tethered beside it.
  • Nyokum goddess, goddess of prosperity, is invoked for her blessings for more production of food grains in the next harvesting season.
• Attire: Men wear a cotton eri robe, bead necklaces, and a bamboo-woven cap adorned with feathers, fur, or a hornbill beak.
  • Women dress in parej, earrings, bead necklaces, and a finely crafted bamboo headdress.
• Singing & dancing precede the main ritual, performed by the head priest (nyubh) and his attendants.
• Guests are welcomed with rice paste powder and opo (millet seed beer) served in dried gourd ladles.

  

  Credit: Arunachal24

About Nyishi Tribe

• The Nyishi are the largest ethnic group in Arunachal Pradesh in north-eastern India. They also live in Sonitpur and North Lakhimpur districts of Assam.
• In Nishi, their traditional language, Nyi refers to “a man”, and the word shi denotes “a being”, which, combined together, refers to a civilised human being.
• The Nyishi language belongs to the Sino-Tibetan family, however, the origin is disputed.
• They trace their descent patrilineally and are divided into several clans.
• Polygyny (man has more than one wife) is prevalent among the Nyishi.
• The Nyishi believe that human beings’ can live a life of peace and prosperity on this earth only when a perfect harmony is maintained between man, God and nature.